MLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ques 1. What are electronic devices? ‘Ans 1. Any device whose action is based on the controlled flow of electrons through it is called an electronic device. Ques 2. Give the comparison between the conductivity of metals, insulators and semiconductors. Ans 2. On the basis of their relative values of electrical conductivity (a) or resistivity (p = 1/0), we can broadly classify solids into three categories: A. Metals. They have very low resistivity or high conductivity. [p= 10-10" 2m @ = 10? ~ 108 Sm? B. Insulators. They have high resistivity or low conductivity. p= 10° Am Jo = 10-® Sm C. Semiconductors. They possess resistivity or conductivity intermediate to metals and insulators. p~10°-10°2m = 107 — 10° Sm=* Nott 1. Metals have high conductivity, but cannot be controlled by any manner, on the other hand insulators have negligible conductivity hence are of no use. 2. The conductivity of semiconductors is less than metals, but we can moderate (change) the conductivity of semiconductors as per our need, hence the semiconductors like germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) are widely used in making electronics devices, 3. Features of semiconductors made electronics devices. a) So, it starts operating as soon as it is switched on b) Semiconductor devices are small in size, consume low power and operate at low voltages. ©) They have long life and high reliability. Ques 3. What is an energy band? Also give an idea about valence band and conduction band. Ans 3. The energy level are further splits into a number of sub — energy levels forming a continuous band, called energy band. The highest energy band filled with valence electrons is called valence band. The energy band above to the valence band is called conduction band, where free electrons are available for conduction. The gap between top of valence band and bottom of the conduction band in which no allowed energy levels for electrons can exist is called energy band gap or energy gap. Ques 4, Give a comparison between metals, insulators and semiconductors on the basis of band theory. Ans 4. Depending on the energy band gap, solids may be classified into metals, insulators and semiconductors, as explained below: 1, Metals, Here the last occupied band, called conduction band is partially filled with electrons. Two types of band structures are found in metals: i, Either there is energy gap between the completely filled valence band and the partially filled conduction band, in alkali metals (Li, Na, K, etc.) PagelMLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII 2 Ques 5. What is a hole? Give the characteris ji. Or the conduction and valence bands partly overlap in metals like Be, Mg, Zn etc. Here the valence band is completely filled but the upper unoccupied band partly overlaps the valence band. The highest energy level in the conduction band filled up with electrons at absolute zero is called Fermi level and the energy corresponding to the Fermi level is called Fermi Energy. ping cae (| —_—_aa “ : wn wn o wo Insulators. In insulators, the valence band is completely filled while the conduction band is empty. As shown in figure, there is a large energy gap (E, > 3 eV) between the valence and conduction bands. For example, in case of diamond E, = 6 eV. Even an electric field cannot give this much energy to an electron to make it jump from the valence band into the conduction band, Hence due to the lack of free electrons in the conduction band, the insulators are poor conductors of electricity. Semiconductors. At 0 K, the conduction band is empty and the valence band is filled. So, the material is essentially insulator at low temperatures. However, the energy gap between conduction and valence bands is small (Ey <3 eV). For example, E, = 1.17 eV for Si and E, = 0.74 eV for Ge. At room temperature, some valence electrons acquire enough thermal energy and jump to the conduction band where they are free to conduct electricity Empty )\ E, Es“ conduction — # band , E,>3eV ® Valence z band é insulators semiconductors ics of a hole. Ans 5. The vacancy or absence of an electron in the bond of a covalently bonded crystal is called hole. In terms of band theory, whenever an electron is removed from the completely filled valence band. This vacancy serves as a positive charge carrier and is called a hole. A hole is not a physical entity. Characteristics of Holes 1 ‘A hole is just a vacancy created by the removal of an electron from a covalent bond of semiconductor. It has the same mass as the (removed) electron. Itis associated with a positive charge of magnitude e. The energy of a hole is higher, the farther below it is from the top of the valence band. Page2MLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ques 6. Give the classification of semiconductors on the basis of the types of charge carriers. Ans 6. A. Intrinsic semiconductors. The pure semiconductors with no impurities present are called intrinsic semiconductors. The mobile charge carriers (electrons and holes) in an intrinsic semiconductor result in the conductivity of these semiconductors. + Inan intrinsic semiconductor, the number density of electrons (n,) is equal to the number density of holes (ran) B. Extrinsic semiconductors. The semiconductors obtained by adding or doping the pure semiconductor with small amounts of certain specific impurity atoms having different valency are called extrinsic semiconductors. Doping changes the number density of mobile electrons and holes. Extrinsic conductors are of two types- 1. n-type semiconductor (electrons as major charge carriers) 2. p-type semiconductor (holes as major charge carriers) Ques 7. Discuss the conductivity in intrinsic semiconductor with a proper diagram. Ans 7. For a given energy gap E,, clearly ny increases as the temperature increases. When an electron gain energy, it moves from valance band to the conduction band and a hole is created in the valence band. As each free electron creates one hole, so in an intrinsic semiconductor, the number density of free electrons (ne) is equal to the number density of holes (n,.) and each to the intrinsic charge carrier concentration (7). (Thermally gene lectron vacancy) Above figure shows a hole at site 1. An electron at site 2 of the neighbouring covalent bond may jump to the site 1. After such a jump, a hole is created at site 2 and site 1 gets occupied by an electron as shown in figure. Apparently, the hole has moved from site 1 to site 2. Thus, the motion of the hole may be regarded as the transfer of electron from one covalent bond to another. Under the action of an applied electric field, the holes move in the direction of the electric field (due to jumping of bound electrons in the reverse direction from one atom to another). So, they act as positive charge carriers and give rise to a hole current In. The thermally generated free electrons give rise to an independent electron current I, The total current is|I = Electron current + hole current = 1, +I, Page3MLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ques 8. What do you mean by doping? Why doping is done in semiconductors? Ans 8. In order to increase the conductivity of pure semiconductors and to overcome their other limitations, impurity atoms having valency different from 4, is added to the pure semiconductor. The process of addition of a desirable impurity to a pure semiconductor so as to increase its conductivity is called doping. The impurity atoms added are called dopants and the semiconductors doped with the purity atoms are called extrinsic or doped semiconductors. ‘Two types of dopants. There are two types of dopants used in doping the tetravalent Si or Ge: i, Pentavalent dopants. They have 5 valence electrons, For example, arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and phosphorous (P). Trivalent dopants. They have 3 valence electrons. For example, indium (In), boron (8) and aluminium (Al). On doping Si or Ge with pentavalent and trivalent impurity atoms, we get two entirely different types of semiconductors, called n— types and p- type semiconductors respectively. Ques 9. What are the types of extrinsic semiconductor? Explain the formation of extrinsic semiconductors with a proper diagram. Ans 9. A semiconductor doped with some suitable impurity atoms so as to increase its number of charge carriers is called an extrinsic semiconductor. Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types: 1. n=type semiconductors. 2. p-type semiconductors. n-type semiconductor. This semiconductor is obtained by doping the tetravalent semiconductor Si (or Ge) with pentavalent impurities such as As, P or Sb of group V of the periodic table. As shown in figure, when a pentavalent impurity atom substitutes the tetravalent Si atom, it uses four of its five valence electrons in forming four covalent bonds with neighbouring Si atoms while the fifth electron is loosely bound to the impurity atom. A very small amount of energy (0.01 eV for Ge and 0.05 eV for Si) is required to detach this electron. At room temperature, the thermal energy is enough to set free this electron. As each pentavalent impurity atom donates one extra electron for conduction, it is called a donor. Hence, the electrons are the majority charge carriers and holes are the minority charge carriers. As most of the current is cartied by the negatively charged electrons, so the semiconductors doped with donor type impurities are known as n-type semiconductors. For such semiconductors, nm, >> ty, or N>>P The n-type material can be regarded as a fixed core of one positive charge along with its associated electron, as shown in the figure. 000 008} PageaCH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS MLM CLASS XII 2. p=type semiconductor. Such a semiconductor is obtained by doping the tetravalent semiconductor Si (or Ge) with trivalent impurities such as in, B, Al or Ga. As shown in figure, the impurity atom uses its three valence electrons in forming covalent bonds with three neighbouring Si atoms and one covalent bond creates a vacancy or hole in that bond. This hole is now available for conduction. The trivalent impurity atom is called an acceptor because it creates a hole which can accept an electron from the neighbouring bond. Hence, holes are majority charge car rs and electrons are the minority charge carriers. The semiconductors doped with acceptor type impurities are called p ~ type semiconductors, because most of the current in these semiconductors is carried by holes which have effective positive charge. For such semiconductors, ee ge “@: “> : Acceptor eo S.NO. INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS SEMICONDUCTORS 1. _ | These are pure semiconducting These are semi — conducting tetravalent crystals tetravalent crystals. doped with impurity atoms of group Ill or V. 2.__ | Their electrical conductivity is low. Their electrical conductivity is high 3. _ | There is no permitted energy state There is permitted energy state of the impurity between valence and conduction bands. atom between valence and conduction bands. The number of free electrons in the conduction band is equal to the number of holes in valence band The electrons are majority charge carriers inn — type semiconductors while holes are majority charge carries in p - type semiconductors. 5. | Their electrical conductivity depends on | Their electrical conductivity depends on temperature, temperature as well as on dopant concentration. S.NO. 11- TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS p— TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS 1. __ | These are extrinsic semiconductors These are extrinsic semiconductors obtained by obtained by doping impurity atoms of |_| doping impurity atoms of group Ill to Ge or Si group V to Ge or Si crystal. crystal. 2. _ | The impurity atoms added provide free | The impurity atoms added create vacancies of electrons and are called donors. electrons (or holes) and are called acceptors. 3. _ | The donor impurity level lies just below | The acceptor impurity level lies just above the the conduction band. valence band. The electrons are majority charge carriers while holes are minority charge carriers. The holes are majority charge carriers while electrons are minority charge carriers. The free electron density is much greater than hole density, i.e Ne >> Mn. The hole density is much greater than free electron density, ie. my >> Me. PagesMLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ques 10. What is a pn-junction diode? Discuss the formation of pn-junction diode and define the following terms: a.diffusion b. depletion region c. potential barrier _d. diffusion and drift current Ans 10. pn JUNCTION When a single crystal of Ge or Si doped in such a manner that one half portion of it acts as p - type semiconductor and the other half as n- type semiconductors, it is said to be pn — junction diode. Here, the term junction implies the boundary or region of transition between n — type and p-type semiconductor materials. Depletion region and potential barrier in a p ~ n Junction. ‘Two important processes involved during the formation of pn junction are diffusion and drift, P-type Diffusion When a p ~n junction is formed, the p side of the junction has a higher concentration of holes while the n~side has a higher concentration of electrons. Due to the concentration gradient at Free Electrons the junction, holes begin to diffuse from p ~ side to n- side (p ~ n) and electrons begin to diffuse from n ~side to p~ side (n > p). This movement of charges across the junction due to concentration difference is known as diffusion of charges. Hole Depletion Region When diffusion of charges takes place across the junction, the region in the vicinity of junction becomes depleted (free) of charge carriers, where no charge carries are available, this region is called depletion region. The small region in the vicinity of the junction which is depleted of free charge carriers and has only immobile ions is called depletion region. Potential Barrier As holes diffuse from p — n side, they leave behind -ve acceptor ions which set up a layer of negative charge on the p ~ side of the junction. Similarly, as the electrons diffuse from n + p side, they leave behind +ve donor ions which set up a layer of positive charge on the n ~ side of the junction. This sets up an electric field near the junction from n — p side, known as Barrier Field. The diffusion of negative charges in the p — region and positive charges in the n- region sets up a potential difference across the junction. This acts as a barrier and is called barrier potential Vjp which opposes the further diffusion of electrons and holes across the junction. Diffusion current and Drift current Only those electrons and holes which have energy at least ‘eV’ are able to cross this barrier and some diffusion takes place. This diffusion of majority change carriers across the junction gives rise to an electric current from p ~ n side and is called diffusion current. In the depletion region, electron ~ hole pairs are continuously produced due to thermal or electric field conditions. The electric field Ey immediately pushes the electrons towards the n — side and holes towards the p~side. This current set up by the barrier field from n —» p side is called drift current. PageéMLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ques 11. On what factors does the barrier potential across a junction depends? Ans 11. The barrier potential Vy depends on i. the nature of the semiconductor, ji. temperature and iii, the amount of doping. Circuit symbol for a p -n junction diode A pn unetion has two electrode connections —one on the p~ side and another on the n- side. Its circuit symbol is shown in the figure. The direction of the arrow is from p — region to n=region. The p ~ side is known as the anode and the n~ side is known as the cathode. Anode Cathode Ques 12. With a circuit diagram, show the forward biasing of a pn — junction diode. Also mention the changes in pn junction diode after its forward biasing. Ans 12. When the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the p ~ side and the negative terminal to the n= side, then the p —n junction is said to be forward biased ‘As shown in the figure, here the applied voltage V opposes the barrier voltage Vj. As a result of this, i, the effective barrier potential decreases to (Vp — V) and hence the energy barrier across the junction decreases, as shown in p-type n-type silicon silicon coms Anode figure, Narrow depletion region ii, the majority charge carriers Le., FR Oa | + Fee electrons holes from p— side and electrons Pype 14 __Nbpe from n side begin to flow towards e,0 e 3 the junction, e Big e iil, _ the diffusion of electrons and holes 0? into the depletion layer decreases ea 4 eo, its width, and > = Negative ch Posie ion iv. the effective resistance across the p =n junction decreases. When V exceed Vz, the majority charge carriers start flowing easily across the Battery junction and set up a large current (~ mA), called forward current, in the circuit. The current increases with the increase in applied voltage. Ques 13. With a circuit diagram, show the reverse biasing of a pn — junction diode. Also mention the changes in pn — junction diode after its reverse biasing. Ans 13. Reverse biasing. If the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the n ~ side and negative terminal to the p— side, then the p—n junction is said to be reverse biased. ‘As shown in figure, the applied voltage V and the barrier potential Vz are in the same direction. Page7MLM CH 14 ~ SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII ‘As a result of this Wide depletion region i. the barriers potential increases to (Vp +V) teawio ff eerie Sn and hence the energy barrier across the Paype 1 niypo junction increases, 29% 6 0 ii, the majority charge carriers move away eee g from the junction, increasing the width of ese! o 5 ° the depletion layer, vw aoe 9 © il, the resistance of the p—n junction becomes very large, and Posie on iv. no current flows across the junction due to majority charge carriers. —j|+ However, at room temperature there are always present some minority charge carriers like holes in n — region and electrons in p— region. The reverse biasing pushes them towards junction, setting a current, called reverse or leakage current, in the external circuit in the opposite direction. As the minority charge carriers are much less in number than the majority charge carriers. Hence the reverse current is small (~ j1A). NOTE: - when the reverse voltage in increased beyond a certain limit, the breakdown of junction occurs and the diode will damage. This voltage is known as breakdown voltage. * At breakdown voltage, suddenly a large reverse current flow through the diode. Ques 14, What is a rectifier? Give the working principle of rectifier. Ans 14. The process of converting alternating current into direct current is called rectification and the device used for this process is called rectifier. Principle of rectifier When a p —n junction diode is forward biased, it offers less resistance and a current flow through it; but when it is reverse biased, it offers high resistance and almost no current flows through it. This unidirectional property of a diode enables it to be used as a rectifier. When a.c. signal is fed to a diode, the diode is forward biased during the positive half cycle and a current flow through it. During the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased and it does not conduct. Thus, the signal is rectified, The pn junctions can be used as i, ahalf—wave rectifier, and ii, a full - wave rectifier. Ques 15. Give the working of pn-junction diode as half-wave rectifier. Akso draw the input-output waveform for the half-wave rectifier. Ans 15. A half — wave rectifier consists of a transformer, a junction diode D and a load resistance R,. The primary coil of the transformer is connected to the a.c. mains and the secondary coil is connected in series the junction diode D and load resistance R,. PagesMLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Transformer A x 1 et T Sécondary R, 1 \ L,__] 4 B Y Working. When a.c. is supplied to the primary, the secondary of the transformer supplies desired alternating voltage across A and B. During the positive half cycle of a.c, the end Ais positive and the end B is negative. The diode D is forward biased and a current | flow through Ry. During the negative half cycle, the end A becomes negative and B positive. The diode is reverse biased and no current flows. No voltage appears across R,,. In the next positive half cycle, again we get output voltage. Since the voltage across the load appears only during the positive half cycle of the input a.c., this process is called half - wave rectification and the arrangement used is called a half - -wave rect (ANPUT ac | t OUTPUT VOLTAGE Voltage across R, Voltage at A Ques 16. Give the working of pn-junction diode as half-wave rectifier. Akso draw the input-output waveform for the half-wave rectifier. Ans 16. A full— wave rectifier consists of a transformer, two junction diodes D, and D, and a load resistance R,,. The input a.c. signal is fed to the primary coil P of the transformer. The two ends A and B of the secondary S are connected to the p ~ ends of the D, and D>. The secondary is tapped at its central point T which is connected to the n — ends of the two diodes through the load resistance R,,, as shown in the figure. ® even Current flows % wen Os oes oR conducts oa Curent tows % wien Op ¢ toycles conducts ® 0, Page9MLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Working. During the positive half cycle of a.c. input, the end A is positive and the end B is negative with respect to the centre tap T. Then the diode D, gets forward biased and conducts current as indicated by the arrows. The diode D, is reverse biased and does not conduct. During the negative half cycle, the end A becomes negative and the end B becomes positive with respect to the centre tap T. The diode D; gets reverse biased and does not conduct. The diode Dy conducts current along the path as indicated by arrow. As during both half cycles of input a.c. the current through load Ry, flows in the same direction, so we get a pulsating d.c. voltage across R,, as shown in the figure. Since output voltage across the load resistance R,, is obtained for both half cycles of input a.c, this process is called full wave rectification and the arrangement used is called full - wave rectifier. veform at A Wav Due to PD, Due to D. Due to D, Due to dD. Output waveform Waveform at B (across R, PREVIOUS YEAR BOARD QUESTIONS Ques 1. The following table provides the set of values of V and | obtained for a given diode: v 1 Forward biasing LOV 60 mA 21v 80 mA Reverse biasing ov OA -2v 0.25 WA Assuming the characteristics to be nearly linear, over this range, calculate the forward and reverse bias resistance of the given diode. [CBSE D 07C] Ques 2. The V- I characteristic of a silicon diode a) forward bias at V= + 2Vand V=+1V, and b) reverse bias V=-1Vand-2V. INCERT, CBSE F 04] figure. Calculate the diode resistance in: Pagel0MLM CH 14 - SEMICONDUCTORS AND ELECTRONICS CLASS XII Ty (mA) 1s) Ques 3. Ap —n junction diode when forward biased has a drop of 0.5 V which is assumed to be independent of current. The current in excess of 10 mA through the diode produces a large Joule heating which damages (burns) the diode. If we want to use a 1.5 V battery to forward bias the diode, what should be the value of resistor used in series with the diode so that the maximum current does not exceed 5 mA? INCERT] Ques 4. A battery of 2 V may be connected across the points A and B, as shown in figure. Find the current drawn from the battery if the positive terminal is connected to wa the point A and i, the point 8. [CBSE Al 15] ‘Assume that the resistance of each diode is zero in forward bias and infinity in reverse bias. Aa Ques 5. Determine the currents through the resistances of the circuits shown in figure. D, 10 [cBSE Al 12] son 100 Ques 6. In a centre trap full wave rectifier, the load resistance R, = 1 K22. Each diode has a forward bias dynamic resistance of 10 Q. The voltage across half the secondary winding is 220 sin314t. Find i. the peak value of current the de value of current and iii, the rms value of current. [CBSE D 09, D 12, OD 08, 12, 16] Pagel1